Utah Part 5 - Saturday at Abravanel Hall

Saturday 6/4 - The youth had an early start on Saturday morning as they returned to the hall to re-record a couple of numbers. We all reported for placement and had a short break before we returned for our 2:00 p.m. concert. I sat in the wings for the concert, and it appeared to go just as well as Friday night. It was so great to bring this music to so many. After the concert, we stayed an extra hour so that BYU Broadcasting could finish getting the shots they needed for the documentary they are filming.

We then headed out and said some good-byes along the way...

Francesca, our Alto soloist

Brother Brett, the director of OCMCO and composer of the oratorio

Brother Brandon, director of EVMCO

Fun view from across the street from Temple Square

Utah Part 4 - Tabernacle Performance

Friday 6/3 - Bright and early Friday morning was Youth Ensemble check-in. Trish and Heather and I checked into a hotel on Thursday evening after the Mormon Tab rehearsal (Aunt Michelle took the kids swimming while waiting for Trish and I to be finished). Let me tell you that it was sweet to already be in downtown Salt Lake and only have to walk across the street to our venue!

The youth looked sharp in their gray polos. They recorded their pieces with the soprano soloist and Adult Choir and Orchestra before being released to get ready for the Tabernacle performance. Heather and I grabbed lunch downtown and she had tons of fun with the revolving door at the office building where the food court was. I love this girl.

Did you know that the Tabernacle organ pipes are a copyrighted image? Who knew? We were asked not to post any images of the organ, which is hard to hide when you are taking pictures of the choir and orchestra, so I do not have any in this blog post. I do, however, have friends who took some, and we'll put a photo or two in our personal scrapbook. The concert was nothing short of amazing. Because of the structure of the building, we heard ourselves just as the audience did. We heard the children, the orchestra and the soloists with full sound. I sat behind the children and wept as they sung, "Behold Your Little Ones," and "Beautiful Savior". I normally don't shed too many tears because we don't get the full effect. We sure did this time. It was grand to look in the audience and see every spot on every bench filled with people. Wow.

Here are a couple of photos of my special peeps. I knew so many people who were there and wish I had had time to take photos with them all.

My sister, nephew and my girlies

Elise and Michelle

Lisa H. picking up tickets before the concert

Amy, Katie and us

After the concert, we said good-bye to our visitors, and Heather, Trish and I collapsed in our hotel room. We ordered room services, hung up our dresses, and were asleep when our heads hit the pillow!

Utah Part 3 - Thursday

Thursday 6/2 deserves it's own part in the Utah blog story simply because we packed so much in on that day. Michelle to the kids to the Lehi bakery in the morning, the highlight of which was The Foot (pictured below).

The Adult Choir and Orchestra had a sound check and placement in the Tabernacle this morning. After that, we had free time. Woot!

We spent our free time taking a quick walk around Temple Square (we so need more time to do this!) taking in the temple that took 40 years to build, and the original Assembly Hall.

Then we were off to Heritage Park and the "This Is The Place Monument." For those who don't know, when Brigham Young brought the Saints across the plains, the journey ended here where he stood at the top of the Salt Lake Valley and declared it the place for their new settlement. The kids were able to enjoy a train ride, panning for gold, and a couple of village experiences such as school and fun time on the farm.

If you are not familiar with Heritage Park, the "Garden Season" goes clear till the first week of June. After that, more of the village is open. We didn't know this, however, we were still able to do some exploring and make plans to return when there were more fun pioneer-age activities.

On the way home, we had dinner at In-N-Out in Draper, and stopped by the Sweet Tooth Fairy. Yummy, yummy cupcakes people. A must-visit if you are in the neighborhood.

The kids returned to Lehi to hang out and Trish and I met at the Mormon Tab choir rehearsal.

It was fun to watch Mac Wilberg in action and hear the choir.

Utah Part 2 - Tuesday & Wednesday

It makes the most sense to journal this according to our schedule. Plus I can't think of a more creative plan at the moment, hee-hee. We arrived at our host home in Lehi around 8:00 p.m. on Monday evening, visited with our host family and called it a night. Our host family, the Gudmundsens, have had this home in their family for years. We stayed there once about 10 years ago, and it was fun to go back. It was a special treat that the Gudmundsens were there for a couple of day so we could say hello. Jane was my mom's friend and my Young Women's President. Stan took me on my first back packing hike through the Sierras. They have remained family friends over the years. Their daughter, Elise, was, and is, my sister's dearest, bestest friend (and another little sis to me). It was such a blessing to have a great, comfortable home to stay in and to get to see this family that we love so much.

Tuesday, 5/31 - Recording in Abravanel Hall

All of our recording sessions were scheduled in Abravanel Hall which sits just across diagonally from Temple Square. The Adult Choir and Orchestra gathered bright and early Tuesday morning for check in and the first of our recording sessions. The hall was beautiful and my seat mates were super fun. My friend, Trish, and I had lunch together at The Lion House, and then later took the Trax to the Gateway Mall for a quick dinner and meet up with my sister and the kids. They had been to see Kung Fu Panda 2, and after a long day, it was very nice to see them and get hugs. Did I mention that I could never have made this trip without my sister? If I haven't, I'm sure I'll say it a hundred times before this blogging series is over. Thank you Aunt Michelle!

Wednesday, 6/1 - More recording and fun with Aunt Michelle

Wednesday morning found the Adult Choir and Orchestra back for more recording. Meanwhile, super-fun Aunt Michelle took the kids to Boondocks, a fun recreation park. They spent from about 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the park and had a blast. After being released early from our recording, I headed back to Lehi where we enjoyed dinner at a Teppanyaki restaurant in Lehi. After dinner, we returned to the house and crashed.

Utah Part 1 - Genola

Our first stop in Utah was to stay with our friends, the Henstras. Our kids had hit it off while they stayed with us in California, and a visit to their home in Utah was a must. Amy and I met through TwilightMoms, and we often smile when we think how many friendships developed, "all because of a book."

Their property was beautiful and stretched five acres. Although it rained much of the two days we were there, we still managed to be outdoors quite a bit. The horses were a favorite for my girls. The kids played in the tall grasses, fed the horses, helped Sam put up a fence and rode the horses when it quit raining. The weather really did change from minute to minute, and some of our pictures show girls on horseback in the sun, and then in the darker light. All of our horseback riding occurred on the same day after helping get the fence up with the weather churning all the while. We went to church in Genola and enjoyed Amy's scrumptious cooking. It was really a wonderful visit.

Heather and Ada in the field

Jenna and Duke

Ellie, Katie and Heather walking from the pond

Katie and Heather helping with the fence

Amy giving Jenna a ride back home

Ellie and Heather on Ada

Jenna on Liz

The storm that hailed on us and delayed the riding

Sam taking Jenna and Heather on a second ride

The Past Eight Days...

Eight days. We have been out of state for the past eight days. For four of those days, we had no internet access, and on the other four days, we were so busy, that exhaustion won out over blogging. I plan to blog over the next day or two and briefly journal our trip. It was amazing. There will be lots of pictures and an attempt to describe the experience. I probably won't be able to sufficiently explain the week's events, but I'll do my best.

Each 12-hour car ride afforded something that I/we don't get while we're at home--time to chill out, be silly, let go of our schedule, and turn our thoughts away from the stress of the day-to-day. While driving back, my friend and I discussed what was waiting for us at home. As we began to remember the school work, teacher issues, looming school closure decision, and other things that were causing us worry I began to realize something. The Adversary is at work, and he is wily. I spend an awful lot of time worrying about things that are not important in the big picture. I am convinced that the Adversary encouraging my focus on things that are not important. Many signs are here letting us know that a shift is occurring, and instead of making sure we are spiritually and physically prepared to meet future challenges, I'm worried about what Heather's teacher is or isn't doing, or what district politics will do to our schools. These seem like big things, and they are important, but I see that it is important that I don't let all of my energy flow to those things. What is important, and what needs my energy is where I need to focus my thinking. I see that the more important it is that we focus on spiritual matters, the Adversary finds ways to thwart or fog our thinking. I am very grateful for this epiphany and feel good about carrying on with a more resolved focus. We need to be strong and committed to what we know as the future unfolds. I want to be prepared and not fearful, and a shift in how I deal with the day-to-day stresses in our life will get me moving in the right direction.

No more pencils, no more books...

"Jakob hates homework"...Shari Hanson

When my friend, Shari, posted this a few months ago, my heart went out to her poor boy. Before my girls were school age, I dreamed about how fun and productive homework time would be. I saved my cute extra workbook pages and math manipulatives from my classroom and kept them in a drawer in my office. I envisioned my girls and I at the kitchen table, them working on their homework with me assisting and poppin' out the homework helpers. What child could be better equipped to do homework than one with a former teacher for a mom? It's like free tutoring! Score!

Well, that bubble went the way of the bursting many years ago. My little Heather, exhausted from six hours of school didn't like homework. She'd been struggling all day and didn't want to continue the torture at home. Of course, I was kind and supportive. There were M&M's when she'd reach the end of each sentence, and treats for getting work done at school. I was fiercely protective of her self-esteem and cheered her on no matter how small the accomplishment. She was a good sport for a long time, but the discrepancy between what was required and what she could produce became problematic.

I never envisioned dropping my child off at school and worrying if her teacher would be kind to her during the day, or if other kids would tease her for not getting her work done fast. I didn't foresee spending hours on the internet researching terms like executive dysfunction, ADD and dysgraphia. I could never have envisioned the frustration of knowing that what was in my daughter's highly intelligent brain would not ever translate from her brain to her paper. And worse than that, that she would feel stupid because she couldn't express herself like those kids for whom public school was designed.

When I started this post, I was not quite sure where it was going to go. Our journey isn't finished yet, and most writers wait until the end of the journey to write about it. The perspective gained is what others like to read about. I don't have that perspective yet, but I know that it will come. There are four weeks of this school year left, and I'm not sure if Heather or myself will be more relieved on the last day?! Heather is done with homework and tests and rigid teachers. I am SO done watching our public school try to force my square peg into an inflexible round hole. I have become twitchy and defensive expecting the worst from a teacher instead of the best. This is not a good way to promote personal sanity, so I've got to re-wire this summer and do some positive thinking!

I want to take my girl and Shari's sweet Jakob and all those other cute, darling, amazing children out there and open my own school! I want to nurture them and love them and help them find success! I am weary and over being told that if a child can't add it up, write it down, or color it to perfection, their intelligence isn't valuable. Something has got to give, and I'm going to keep pushing and pulling until it does!

If you made it this far, thanks for listening!